Sometime true love hurts
by gibbsgirlie08
Summary: Take place during the episode Reunion.  Gibbs and ZIva's small interactions in their quest to become a family again.
1. Chapter 1

Sometimes True Love Hurts

A/N: I was watching a rerun of the Episode "Reunion", and this little interplay caught my attention. This is just parts of the episodes with what I thought the characters were feeling deep within. I have taken some creative turns on some of what is said in the episode so it is not verbatim. This has a family take, no romance!

**Disclaimer: I own nothing!**

Ziva comes bounding down the stairs, anxious to tackle Gibbs head on, but also nervous of the outcome. She was holding in her hand a small present, one that she personally picked out herself. She was going to talk to Gibbs with a game plan already in place. 'Act happy, acknowledge wrong doing and wait for acceptance.' Ziva kept silently replaying in her mind. "Your door was open." Ziva stated as she landed on the final step.

"Usually is." Gibbs answered. He was in the process rolling out his tape measure, trying to keep his hands busy, trying to take his mind off what he knew was coming. Ziva had called him last night, desperately needing to talk to him, and he told her when to come by the next morning. She was 15 minutes late.

"I..uh…apologize for being late, the navy lodge I was staying at had an surprise inspection…" Ziva was trying to explain her tardiness, but she knew that Gibbs was not one for excuses or apologies, and as she saw him turn from her and head to the workbench that he knew she was stalling. "But, that is not important." Ziva finished as she saw Gibbs turn to look at her, leaning ever so carefree on the bench, but crossing his feet and holding on the bench as he waited for her to continue on for the real reason she was here.

Little did Ziva know, that underneath all this tough, impartial façade, was a father desperately wanting to reach out and hold his daughter and tell her that all would be ok and that he would be there forever. That this was the real reason he was having to keep his feet crossed so they would not make that first step, or that his hands were holding the bench to keep from dragging her to his chest for a tight hug. Gibbs knows he has to keep this as short and cold as possible. "How are you?" He asked. This would be Ziva's first test. If she answered back "Fine" to quickly he would know that she has not truly dealt with her experience and was just trying to sweep it under the rug instead of facing the truth head on.

Ziva quickly open her mouth with the intention of answering that she was fine, but then she realized that it was time that she let him know that she was fine, but still healing. " I am fine…Gibbs." Ziva answered slowly, emphasizing Gibbs, letting him know that this is between him and her. Being asked such a open question had Ziva a little rattled, she was prepared to acknowledge her wrong doing, but she was not expecting him to ask her how she was.

Gibbs saw how this simple question had caught her off guard. Gibbs knew that she thought this would be a easy discussion, that she would come in on the offense and tell him what he wanted to hear and then all would be OK. He knew that she needed to be kept off balance, to let the real emotions come out.

"That is what I wished to speak to you about, amongst other things." Ziva started to ramble and shift her hands nervously.

Gibbs moved off the bench and started towards her, he knew that his proximity would soothe her emotions. If she only knew how hard this was, how a true father hurts anytime he has to make any decision that may seem harsh or unfair, but that their main concern is the well-being of their child. He was doing a great job of keep his emotions under a tight curtain until he opened her gift. She could have presented him with an award, a shiny new tool, but instead she presented him with an old buckboardist chisel. One that had been used for many creations, but in excellent shape, it was a priceless gift, a gift from the heart, her heart. As he listen to her talk in the background about this not being a present to thank him for rescuing her and explaining it was not going to blow up, he looked up at her and told her," I was just thinking this was a very nice chisel." He said as he let a small smile escape his lips as he looked up, but quickly had to purse his lips and swallow hard to keep the threatening tears at bay.

"When you left me in Isreal, I felt betrayed." Ziva started as she watched Gibbs look her straight in the eyes. She could see that he was not going to give her any lee way, so instead of staring into the deep blue eyes, she turned to continue. "But I had a long time to think about things."

Gibbs was glad that Ziva was not looking at him, he was fighting so hard to keep that stoic face up, wanting her to come the same conclusions that he had. That when he had left her in Isreal, it was for her own good, time for her to choose which family she served.

"You were right to leave me there." Ziva acknowledged, hoping that he might disagree, but deep down she knew he wouldn't.

Gibbs just nodded his head and said. " I know."

"I know, but the point is now I do too." Ziva said as her emotions were starting to become clear on her face. She was searching his face for some sort of warmth, but instead she saw Gibbs gently nod his head to one side in an attempt to tell her to continue. Ziva realized now was the time to push forward, to let Gibbs know that she had gotten the message loud and clear and that she wanted back. She needed to be back, with her true family. " I had forgotten who I could trust." She uttered quietly as she watched Gibbs' face for any sign of acceptance. "We were a team, and I would like that again." Ziva spoke, silently adding on in her head. " Not only a team, my family."

Gibbs knew that this was the path he wanted her to go down, to see her errors in her mindset and to make her clearly choose whom she trusted. He knew that this was a small step, a first in many to come, but with a gentle drop of his head he blinked back the overwhelming want to hold her and let her know that she needed to talk to the Director. That this was not going to be easy and would see just how much she wanted her family back.

Ziva knew that this was not going to be easy, but she had to push on with Gibbs. Speaking with a voice, teetering on breaking emotion, Ziva came on. "It is not his blessing I am asking for….It is yours.."

Gibbs dropped his head again, and was thinking of how to answer when his phone rang. A chance for him to regain his composure and finish this out all the way. After talking to Tony, he told her, " You need to talk to Vance…. I told him to be expecting you." He said as he jogged up the stairs. He knew that this would let her know that he was in her corner as always, and that even though they had a long road in front of them, he still knew his daughter well enough to anticipate her actions. Now she just had to come to him in all honesty and learn that a true love from a family is not always easy, that there will sometimes be pain, but in the end it is still LOVE.


	2. Chapter 2

Sometimes true love hurts

Ch 2

DISCLAIMERS: I OWN NOTHING!

This is just my take on the whole Ziva/Abby reunion and what was running inside their heads.

Ziva has been avoiding the following confrontation as long as she could. She had stopped only to talk to Tony for a brief moment when his phone rang and he talked to the excited voice on the other end of the line. It was Abby, asking Ziva to come see her downstairs, now. How in the world Abby even knew that Ziva was there was beyond her comprehension, but now as she hesitated outside the lab door, she knew it was now or never. Ziva entered the room with a air trepidation, she saw Abby involved in examining a piece of evidence. Taking a breath to steady her nerves, Ziva simply said, "Hello Abby."

Abby quickly turned to see Ziva standing in her lab. Abby did not utter one syllable, she did not smile, she just turned to put the piece of evidence down and turned back to Ziva. Abby wanted so desperately to rush to her and grab her in the tightest hug. She wanted to hold on and never let her go, but she knew that she had to get Ziva to see her view of this whole mess.

The silence and lack on emotion immediately let Ziva know that this was not going to be a celebratory meeting. She watched Abby just pick up the remote to her stereo and cut the music off. 'UH-OH', Ziva thought to herself, this can not be good. Ziva was expecting tears, maybe some mild form of anger, but came ripping out of Abby's mouth totally caught her off guard.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? HOW COULD YOU HAVE DOUBTED TONY, AF-AFTER EVERYTHING YOU HAVE BEEN THOROUGH TOGETHER?" Abby was not only raising her voice to Ziva, she was now starting to gesticulate with her hands. She was starting to wave them around as she talked and started to pace. "Did you really think that Tony killed Rivkin because he was jealous?" Abby asked, adding air quotes to the word jealous as she continued her verbal attack.

"Abby, please calm down." Ziva was shocked, she had never seen this coming, she knew she deserved this, but it was still hard to take.

"NO, you weren't thinking!" Abby yelled, but then in typical Abby fashion, tried to empathize with what Ziva might have been thinking. "Well, but then you did come into your house and find Rivkin dead on your floor and that Tony had shot him, and you were in an emotional state." Abby's voice had taken a quieter tone, until the next thought hit her. "BUT TO TELL **GIBBS** THAT YOU DIDN'T TRUST TONY!" Abby added and then started another ramble about trying to see Ziva's point of view in a lower voice.

Ziva could see just how much she had hurt Abby, and not in a personal way. Ziva mentally was thinking how lucky Tony had it to have someone love them so much that they would be so hurt because the other was hurt. But then again, that is how a true family worked. Ziva looked at the floor, silently envious of the bond between Tony and Abby.

Abby had wound down her rambling, giving Ziva credit and understanding a little of what she had witnessed, but she was not going to let Ziva off so easy. "But this…this is Tony we are talking about, 100% goofy on the outside, but a rock on the inside..and to think that after everything he accused you of he risked HIS LIFE to go save YOU!" Abby emphasized by throwing her arms out.

Ziva had never intended to survive the time in the desert. She knew that she had cut her only family out of her life by making Gibbs choose between her and Tony. She had lost a father, two brothers and now it seems like she may have lost her little sister forever. Ziva took a deep breath in as just how much each of them gave and lost for her hit her full force in the chest.

"You should be ashamed of yourself!" Abby yelled, turning around and missing the hurt that briefly flashed across Ziva's face. "But in hind sight, it does make a little sense now." Abby continued on.

Hearing Abby start to see things from her point of view caught her off guard, a surprised expression crossing her face as she saw Abby try to work Ziva's thoughts through her head.

"But either way the ball is in your court now. It is Tony one and Ziva Zilch! This is your move!" Abby emphatically spoke out to Ziva, hoping for Ziva to see how much she means to all of them, and that it can all work out, but it was up to her to go forward with this. "And it better be a good one." Abby finished off, watching the tears build up in Ziva's eyes. She knew that she had been harsh on her, but she wanted to make sure that Ziva knew that her family had taken great lengths to find her and that she was still worth the saving. It was hard for Abby to talk to Ziva like this, but if there was one thing Abby had learned from Gibbs, is that a family, biological or not, will always love each other, and that feeling the pain from a mistake or bad judgement call, means that the love was there to begin with and the love will start to heal the pain. After giving Ziva a moment to digest the whole speech, Abby could not hold it in any longer. Abby rushed over to Ziva, and enveloped her in the tightest hug she had ever given. Abby wanted Ziva to feel the love that she had for her, and that she would always be her big sister. "Oh, God, I was so worried about you."

The sudden change in Abby initially caught Ziva off guard as Abby enclosed her in her arms. Ziva wrapped her arms under Abby's and leaned into Abby's love and warmth. It quickly perfused through her, casting aside the feelings of loneliness and hopelessness. Overcome with emotion, Ziva simply uttered two words that spoke volumes. "Thank you." She meant for the anger, the hurt and for the undying love of a sister.

Abby never let go of Ziva in her hug, she just leaned down, grabbed her remote and hit the button she had been dying to use for weeks.

Ziva jumped at the loud bang, as a banner saying "Welcome Home Ziva!" was unfurled and confetti flowed in the air. Ziva could only smile and hold her little sister tighter. Ziva whispered in Abby's ear. "I know that we have not always seen eye to eye, but know this, I will make this up to you…..and to everyone….." She said with a slight sniffle, the only sign of the silent tears running down her face.

"No need, sis." Abby said with a tight squeeze. "Already forgiven as soon as I saw your face peek out of the elevator, so nothing to make up, just don't forget lil' sis can kick some ass also when I need to" Abby said with a slight giggle as she leaned back and looked Ziva in the eyes.

"Oh, I will not forget! Besides, who taught you those killer moves?" Ziva said with a wink.

"Only the best big sister in the world," Abby answered as she unwound her arms from around Ziva and turned back to work on the evidence at hand.

PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! Next her final showdown with Gibbs!


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